Purchasing though auctions is a popular form of transaction. In a conventional auction, an item is sold to a highest bidder. Two common forms of conventional auctions are an English auction and a silent auction. Under the English auction, a plurality of bidders place bids on an item in plain knowledge of one another, and the final bidder (e.g., the highest bidder) purchase the item for the agreed price. Under the silent auction, parties list a price on paper for an item during a specified amount of time. The highest bidder, and thus the final bidder, at the end of the specified time purchases the item for the listed price.
There is also an information form of auction known as bartering. During bartering, parties negotiate different prices for an item. Bartering can include a transaction of currency and/or a transaction of a good or service. Under this auction type, different purchasers received different prices based on the specific items they can offer as well as their ability to negotiate. Common bartering takes place between two parties: a buyer and a seller. However, some bartering takes place with multiple bidders for one seller. Both the English auction and the silent auction allow other bidders to know a bid price for an item.
Recent technological developments have popularized the use of auctions though the Internet. Conventional Internet auctions have sellers placing items on a web site over a set amount of time for potential purchasers to bid. Once a specified time has ended, the highest bidder receives the auctioned item. Since there is not physical presence of the auction, there is commonly an arrangement for transportation of the sold item. For example in addition to a bid price, there can be a shipping price associated with an item that is added automatically to the bid price.